International Journal of African Historical Studies

Aims & Scope

The International Journal of African Historical Studies (IJAHS) is devoted to the study of the African past.

Norman Bennett was the founder and guiding force behind the journal’s growth from its first incarnation at Boston University as African Historical Studies in 1968.

He remained its editor for more than thirty years.

The title was expanded to the International Journal of African Historical Studies in 1972, when Africana Publishers Holmes and Meier took over publication and distribution for the next decade.

Beginning in 1982, the African Studies Center once again assumed full responsibility for production and distribution.

Jean Hay served as the journal’s production editor from 1979 to 1995, and editor from 1998 to her retirement in 2005.

Michael DiBlasi is the current editor, and James McCann and Diana Wylie are associate editors of the journal.

Members of the editorial board include: Emmanuel Akyeampong, Peter Alegi, Misty Bastian, Sara Berry, Barbara Cooper, Marc Epprecht, Lidwien Kapteijns, Meredith McKittrick, Pashington Obang, David Schoenbrun, Heather Sharkey, Ann B.

Stahl, John Thornton, and Rudolph Ware III.

The journal publishes three issues each year (April, August, and December).

Articles, notes, and documents submitted to the journal should be based on original research and framed in terms of historical analysis.

Contributions in archaeology, history, anthropology, historical ecology, political science, political ecology, and economic history are welcome.

Articles that highlight European administrators, settlers, or colonial policies should be submitted elsewhere, unless they deal substantially with interactions with (or the affects on) African societies.

View Aims & Scope

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Metrics & Ranking

Impact Factor

Year	Value
2025	0.2

SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

Year	Value
2024	0.116

Quartile

Year	Value
2024	Q3

h-index

Year	Value
2024	25

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Abstracting & Indexing

Journal is indexed in leading academic databases, ensuring global visibility and accessibility of our peer-reviewed research.

• Scopus
• Google Scholar
• Web of Science

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Subjects & Keywords

Journal’s research areas, covering key disciplines and specialized sub-topics in Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences, designed to support cutting-edge academic discovery.

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Most Cited Articles

The Most Cited Articles section features the journal's most impactful research, based on citation counts. These articles have been referenced frequently by other researchers, indicating their significant contribution to their respective fields.

• Of Small Things Remembered: Beads, Cowries, and Cultural Translations of the Atlantic Experience in Yorubaland

  Citation: 93

  Authors: Akinwumi

• "Le Bebe en Brousse": European Women, African Birth Spacing and Colonial Intervention in Breast Feeding in the Belgian Congo

  Citation: 88

  Authors: Nancy Rose

• Bantu Expansions: Re-Envisioning a Central Problem of Early African History

  Citation: 81

  Authors: Christopher

• "The Asiatic Menace": Creating Segregation in Durban, 1870-1900

  Citation: 70

  Authors: Maynard W.

• Spirituality, Gender, and Power in Asante History

  Citation: 60

  Authors: Emmanuel, Pashington

• Early Swahili History Reconsidered

  Citation: 54

  Authors: Thomas

• Leisure in African History: An Introduction

  Citation: 53

  Authors: Emmanuel, Charles

• The Desert-Side Economy of the Central Sudan

  Citation: 52

  Authors: Paul E., Stephen

• Land, Power, and Ethnic Conflict in Masisi (Congo-Kinshasa), 1940s-1994

  Citation: 50

  Authors: Bucyalimwe

• Agrarian Change from above: The Southern Rhodesia Native Land Husbandry Act and African Response

  Citation: 48

  Authors: Victor E.M.

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